Class Actions

On July 17, 2019, the Law Commission of Ontario (“LCO”) released its final report, Class Actions: Objectives, Experience and Reforms. The LCO report makes 47 recommendations to reform Ontario’s Class Proceeding Act (“CPA”) and related policies. One major theme of the report is that the speed…

On April 17, 2019 the Court of Appeal of Ontario released its decision in Hughes v. Liquor Control Board of Ontario, 2019 ONCA 305 [Hughes]. The Court of Appeal’s decision provides guidance to counsel on the scope of the Regulated Conduct Defence (the “RCD”). The RCD is a defence in the Comp…

Mandatory Arbitration Provisions in the Class Action Context: TELUS Communications Inc. v. Wellman, 2019 SCC 19 On April 4, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada issued reasons in TELUS Communications Inc. v. Wellman. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision provides important guidance on the applicabil…

On February 27, the OSC announced awards of $7.5 million to three whistleblowers in connection with three separate matters. The awards are the first of their kind by a Canadian securities regulator. In a news release, the OSC said the awards were the result of the whistleblowers’ “timely, sp…

Traditional investors buy low and sell high, holding the position in the meantime with the hope that the share price will increase. Short-selling inverts this strategy and involves borrowing a stock that is believed to be overvalued, selling at the high point, and then returning the shares o…

Overview Over the last several years, the Ontario and British Columbia courts have grappled with significant issues affecting the scope and viability of price-fixing class actions. One of these issues is whether “umbrella purchasers” have a cause of action in a price-fixing conspiracy class …

Shah v LG Chem Ltd., 2018 ONCA 819 Background: In this class action, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants conspired to fix the prices of lithium-ion batteries (“LIBs”) in North America and elsewhere between January 2000 and December 2011. As a result, the plaintiffs paid higher prices f…

Fiscal Year 2018 was a nice year for tippers to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) whistleblower program (“SEC program”), thanks to some misbehaving companies. The SEC made record-breaking payouts of about $168 million to 13 whistleblowers in 2018. The SEC program was initia…

In Rooney v ArcelorMittal[1], the Plaintiffs sought certification of a proposed shareholder class action arising out of the events leading up to the successful takeover of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (“BIM”). The key issue in dispute was certification of claims for relief from oppressi…

On November 6, Siskinds represented the Intervener Consumers’ Association of Canada (“CAC”) in the Supreme Court’s hearing of TELUS v. Wellman. The Court’s decision could have major implications on Canadians’ access to the civil justice system. The Wellman appeal arose from a certified class…